[Illustration]
Here is the story put into verses, so that you will re-member it better. Some day you can read the story as Franklin told it himself. You will hear people say, “He paid too much for the whistle.” The saying came from this story.
TOO MUCH FOR THE WHISTLE
As Ben with pennies in his pocket
Went strolling down the street,
“Toot-toot! toot-toot!” there came a whistle
From a boy he chanced to meet,
Whistling fit to burst his buttons,
Blowing hard and stepping high.
Then Benny said, “I’ll buy your whistle;”
But “Toot! toot-toot!” was the reply.
But Benny counted out his pennies,
The whistling boy began to smile;
With one last toot he gave the whistle
To Ben, and took his penny pile.
Now homeward goes the whistling Benny,
As proud as any foolish boy,
And in his pockets not a penny,
But in his mouth a noisy toy.
“Ah, Benny, Benny!” cries his mother,
“I cannot stand your ugly noise.”
“Stop, Benny, Benny!” says his father,
“I cannot talk, you drown my voice.”
At last the whistling boy re-mem-bers
How much his money might have bought
“Too many pennies for a whistle,”
Is little Benny’s ugly thought.
Too many pennies for a whistle
Is what we all pay, you and I,
Just for a little foolish pleasure
Pay a price that’s quite too high.
JOHN STARK AND THE INDIANS.
John Stark was a famous gen-er-al in the Rev-o-lu-tion. But this story is not about the Rev-o-lu-tion. It is about Stark before he became a soldier.
When he was a young man, Stark went into the woods. His brother and two other young men were with him. They lived in a camp. It was far away from any houses.
The young men set traps for animals in many places. They wanted to catch the animals that have fur on them. They wanted to get the skins to sell.
The Indians were at war with the white people. One day the young men saw the tracks of Indians. Then they knew that it was not safe for them to stay in the woods any longer. They began to get ready to go home.
John Stark went out to bring in the traps set for animals. The Indians found him, and made him a pris-on-er. They asked him where his friends were.